No Wonder Ernie's on The Hot Seat Year After Year

Can someone please tell me why Ernie Kent's offense consists of high pick for Porter...forced shot, no rebound. Or, high pick for Armstead, pass to Porter...contested shot, no rebound? Tajuan Porter shot twenty times on Sunday night and made only six of those shots. He missed so many because most of his shots were contested, tipped or blocked. How is it that everyone at Mac Court noticed that Porter was not playing within an offense except for Kent? Ernie just let him keep going and keep missing and keep killing the team. A one shot possession where the shot is a terrible one will not win games coach!

All of this was going down while last week's PAC 10 player of the week Michael Dunigan had only two shots and made both of them in his twenty minutes. I realize he had three personal fouls, which limited his time on the court and consequently limited the number of shots he took. However, Ernie should have gotten him the ball very early in the game. You know that at the very least Dunigan would have drawn some double teams and this would have left other Oregon players open for uncontested shots on a kick-out pass. Not to mention Dunigan would have been under the hoop for some offensive rebounds.

Dunigan's three fouls brings up another question. Why did he end the game with three personal fouls and only twenty minutes? He should have come back on the court much sooner in the second half when we were struggling for baskets and losing rebounds. He has shown that he's tough to stop and his decision-making has made huge strides this season. Besides, he might as well of fouled out early, since keeping him on the bench had the same affect.

I want Coach Kent to succeed, I really do. He has done a lot for the Duck basketball program and we all owe him a ton of gratitude for his time at Oregon. However, the more I watch the more I realize that his in-game coaching skills leave a whole lot to be desired. Losing the last Civil War basketball game at Mac Court was sad to watch and seeing Ernie get let go at the end of this season will be sad to watch as well, but getting a new coach in who knows what an X and an O are will be a huge relief.

I'd love to hear what you think...leave a comment.